Being A Black
by Woody250599
Summary: What if in their time at Hogwarts Harry, Ron and Hermione befriended another young girl by the name of Alice Nicole Black? What would change? What would stay the same? And what would she think of it all?
1. Chapter 1

Being A Black

Chapter 1: The Beginning

**AN: So this is my first story on this site so I hope you like it, please let me know of any theories to do with what you want to happen! I know this is insanely short but I just wanted to set the scene it is also not all going to be from this point of view it will change in the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

On the edge of a rocky cliff sat a battered looking old cottage with the paint peeling from the outside walls and a door that looked like one good gust of wind would knock it down. Now if you were to pull back the torn red curtains and look through the stained windows you would see a young man sat on a faded old rocking chair, rocking back and forward humming to the small bundle of blankets in his arms.

The young man aged 23 but looking 30 looked just as battered and just as worn as the cottage he was living in, he looked tired and worn and he had deep scratches marring half of his pale face, just missing his strange amber coloured eyes.

This mans name is Remus John Lupin.

The bundle of blankets contained Remus John Lupin's goddaughter a small child ages a year and a half with dark hair and pale skin already covered in little brown freckles, her small eyes fluttered open to show iris's as dark as the nights sky.

This child's name was Alice Nicole Black.


	2. The Owl with the Letter

Being A Black

Chapter 2: The Owl With the Letter

**AN: Hi again to begin with thanks so much to Shadowcat75 for being my first ever reviewer! Also thanks to PrincessLollypop90210, Lady Elizabeth of New York and the guest who gave me a review. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

"Dad, daddy wake up come on a letter came and its for me and an owl brought it and I think it might be my school letter and I want you to see me open it and so you need to get up already" a young girl shrieked, running into her fathers room before happily launching herself on top of him.

"Ok, OK I'm up you can stop jumping now" he replied grumpily having never been a morning person pulling himself up into a sitting position so that his daughter could display a large envelope and on that envelope written in curly letters and bright purple ink was:

_Alice Nicole Black_

_The purple bedroom_

_Lonely cottage_

_Hangman Cliffs _

_Dover_

"Open it then, go on." Remus insisted with a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips. She followed his instructions slowly, the big red wax seal breaking under her fingertips. Her hands shook as she opened the envelope and pulled out several yellowing pages all written on in the same deep purple ink as the envelope.

"_Dear Miss Black, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you that you have a place at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl no later than 31 July._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall _

_Deputy Headmistress_"

Alice read aloud to her dad still shaking with excitement, her father had a large smile on his face at Alice's obvious pleasure. "Dad when can we go to Diagon Ally?" Alice asked still wearing a large grin on her face.

"How about you go get dressed and eat and I write a reply to Professor McGonagall and we can go to the post office at Diagon Ally?" Before her father had even finished his sentence Alice had dashed out of the room to change out of her pajamas.

She took less than five minutes to change into a long denim shirt and some black leggings as well as yanking her thick dark hair into a plait that ran halfway down her back. She sprinted down the wooden stairs and quickly ate before rushing upstairs again to wait for her father to complete the letter for Professor McGonagall.

When Remus was done writing the letter confirming that Alice would be attending Hogwarts they were ready to leave. Remus walked over to the fireplace, took a handful of a green sand like substance named floo powder before stepping into the empty fire place throwing the floo powder to the ground and stating very clearly "Diagon Ally", green flames burst around him before he disappeared.

Taking a deep breath Alice did the same, making sure her pronunciation was correct after all she had grown up listening to tales of what could happen if you mispronounced a word, her fathers favourite one being about his friend from school James ending up somewhere in Peru instead of Hogsmead.

Soon after she had stepped into the fireplace she appeared in another

fireplace to the side of a crowded street, she stepped out of the fireplace and wondered over to her father before taking a look around, it was magical.

The shops all had colourful moving displays making the streets look even busier, it was also noisy, as well as the salespeople shouting out what products they were selling there was the noise of hundreds of people talking and older students meeting up to buy their school supplies there was also the loud hooting of owls and other strange animal noises coming from one of the dimmer lit shops on her left.

It was total chaos, and Alice thrived in chaos.

"Wow" she whispered a small smile forming on her face at the thought of looking around at all of the shops.

"Come Ally, we should start with your textbooks" Remus whispered grabbing a tight hold on her wrist so as not to loose her in the tightly packed crowd before attempting to navigate the crowded street to get to _Flourish & Blotts_.

The inside of the shop looked like a massive library with dark wooden shelves displaying what looked like thousands of books on anything and everything, "OK you find your school books and I'll be in the corner over there." Remus told her pointing at one of the largest sections of books in the shop before walking over to the section which seemed to contain some of the older Defense Against the dark Arts texts leaving Alice to wonder around and find the allocated books alone. Alice was not as interested in books as her dad and was not the type of person who would want to hang around in a bookshop all day and so grabbed up all of the textbooks she needed before running to get Remus so they could pay and go to the more exciting places in the street. They paid for the books and left the shop with the books shrunk down and placed neatly into Remus's pocket.

"Can we get my wand now? Please" Alice begged of her father, her hopeful face soon turning into an ugly scowl when she realized he was not going to relent and let her break the tradition of getting a wand last.

Their next shop was to buy her parchment and quills so she could do her work and write letters home, he got her a packet of twelve basic quills and a large set of parchment, definitely enough to last her the term, she also got four big pots of ink, one in black for schoolwork which would last her the term easily as well as a pot of red and a pot of blue, the blue for her letters home and the red for marking any of her work and underlining things, both should last her through the year, and finally her favourite pot of ink, a special pot of colour changing ink which she would try to make last for as long as possible as it was a special treat.

Again Remus grabbed a hold on her hand and led her through the crowds to _Madame Malkin's robes for all occasions_ to buy a school uniform, she would need a grey jumper, a set of robes, a plain grey skirt, long black stockings and some neatly polished shoes. They walked in the door of the shop and were greeted by a rather stout woman bustling around with a tape measure around her neck taking measurements from a tall blonde boy.

Remus led Alice towards an empty space where she could get her measurements taken and only a few minutes later she was holding a garish pink bag containing her new uniform and getting ready to move back into the crowd, her father had decided that they would get the shopping done quicker if they split up for a bit and so she was to go and wait inside the ice cream shop while he collected her potions ingredients.

Just as she stepped outside the store two orange blurs ran right into her and knocked her flying across the paved stones, she reached over to take hold of her shopping bags to pick them and herself up but another pale hand with long fingers got there first and then another hand landed right in front of her face

.

She looked up and saw one boy holding her shopping bag and another identical boy waiting to help her up, hesitantly she took the boys hand and he pulled herself up with apparent ease. The boys both had bright orange hair, blue eyes, pale skin and a lot of freckles covering their faces.

Then one of the boys spoke "Sorry about that"

"We didn't see you there" finished the other one.

Alice thought of something to say before just saying the first thing on her mind "Who are you?" Before thinking about how rude she sounded.

"Fred and George Weasley at your service" pointing first at himself and then at his brother, indicating that he was Fred and his twin was George.

"And who might you be?" The one she assumed to be called George asked.

"Alice Nicole Black" she replied holding out her hand for her shopping bag back the boy holding her bag shook his head and pulled it further out of her reach.

"Oh but we owe you for knocking you over so we'll carry your bags and walk with you back to wherever you're meeting your family." He looked at her appraisingly. "I take it you're a first year?" He asked her, Alice nodded hesitantly still wary of the Weasley twins.

"Well how about to make it up to you for knocking you over we will introduce you to our little brother who is also going to be a first year then you will have at least one person you know other than us of course. So we will meet you just before the Hogwarts express leaves and introduce you our brother." He said as a statement rather than a question.

"It'll be like winning two duels with one spell really because we'll be repaying our debt to you and mum said we had to help Ron settle in anyway."

"Okay, I'll see you on the first of September, can I have my bag back now?" Alice questioned testily, only slightly irritated.

"Oh no fair maiden you must allow George and I to escort you back to your family it is easy to get lost here" The one she assumed was Fred answered in a joking tone.

"Alright, alright where is the ice cream parlor?" she asked with a small smile creeping onto her lips.

The boys led her back the way she came and led her to a brightly coloured ice cream shop before reminding her of the plans to meet before the train ride and saying that they had to go and meet their mother and siblings by the apothecary.

"Ally, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you" Remus said looking relived.

"Sorry dad, I ended up talking to some boys, Fred and George Weasley and I guess I lost track of time"

"It's good to see you making friends Ally, and the Weasley's are good people, Molly was head girl in my first year. So what ice cream flavor do you want?"

"Pixie dust please and did you get the stuff from the apothecary?"

"Yeah and I got your cauldron so all that is left is an owl and your wand." He smiled seeing his daughters face light up.

"I can get an owl!" she shrieked causing several of the other people sitting in the ice cream parlor to look around in alarm.

"Yep, how else am I supposed to talk to you when you're at school without me?"

Alice quickly finished her ice cream and urged her father to finish his chocolate sundae. They walked over to _Eyelop's Owl Emporium_, squinting in the dim light and looking around Alice saw a variety of animals, there were cats and mice and rats and snakes and of course owls. Alice took a while to find the perfect owl, she wanted one that would be cheap enough not to set Remus back any more money than it had to and she wanted it to be well enough behaved and to look pretty. After looking at several owls she picked her favourite one, a small timid brown owl with lighter specks over the top of his head and intelligent looking amber coloured eyes. After a lot of careful deliberation she decided to call him either Arrow or Shadow but she wasn't sure which.

The next stop was to the place that Alice had been looking forward to for most of the shopping trip if not longer, getting her wand. As they walked into Ollivander's an old looking man with white-grey hair and watery blue eyes that somehow appeared to be seeing everything at once walked out and spoke in a voice no louder than a whisper "Alice Nicole daughter of Karlene Gleeves and Sirius Black the mass murderer" His statement hung in the air for a moment causing Alice to shiver not liking the man at all while Remus who was standing beside her stiffened wanting to leave and take his daughter as far away from the batty old man as he could. Alice of course did know what her biological father did and hated him for it, she did not like anyone bringing him up at all let alone the fact that they were related, in her mi she was not related to a murderer or an evil man, she was related to Remus and her mother and that was it. She shot Ollivander a cold glare before leading Remus to the seat in the corner of the musty old room and forcing him to sit while she got her wand herself.

"So can you sell me a wand or not?" she asked Ollivander more violently than she intended, he simply nodded looking a little nervous and walked away. He soon returned with a magical tape measure she was measured in the strangest of places like around her head and the distance between her nostrils while a charmed quill took note of the measurements. Alice didn't see why the size of her head should affect what wand she got but she decided it best not to say anything incase he decided to try to explain the complicated science of wandlore to her.

Again Ollivander walked away and came back with a stack of boxes, she looked at the first one and lifted it into her hand immediately a bolt of lightning shot out of the end and almost hit the wizened old man standing before her, he quickly took the wand from her and put it back into the box before pulling out another wand, this one was a dark colour with patterned ridges running along the piece she supposed was the handle, the second she raised the wand over her head coloured sparks flew out of it lighting up the store like a fireworks display, Alice let out a delighted sigh, she had made a wand work, she was definitely a witch, it was not a mistake. She then looked to Ollivander who had gone slightly pale and seemed hesitant to let her buy the wand and continued to get her to try more wands. Remus however seemed to want her to just take the wand she had just tried and she was on his side, that wand seemed to fit perfectly in her hand and she had felt warm inside when she had unintentionally cast the spell. In the end Remus won out over Ollivander and he muttered a few words to himself before wrapping the wand up and serving her the black box with her name magically engraved on it already.

"Ebony, Unicorn hair, 9 1/3 inches long, flexible" Ollivander said quietly, "Ebony, why would she get ebony, ebony for the girl whose father had done cruel deeds, _dark_ deeds" He muttered again with emphasis on the word dark.

Remus quickly paid the confusing old man his money and exited the shop dragging a bemused Alice behind him. Alice instead of dwelling over the strange things he had said to her she had decided just to go with her theory that he was insane. She forgot about what he had said about her father but did decide to have a go at looking up what was so special about ebony wood.

After the long trip to Diagon Ally Remus and Alice decided to head home and have a quiet night in after the busy day they had enjoyed, well Alice had enjoyed Remus wasn't quite as comfortable around crowds as she was but he had enjoyed it all the same.


	3. Friends and Enemies

Being A Black

Chapter 3: Friends and Enemies

**AN: Hi everyone, thank you to guest (Lexi) for the review I really love it when people speculate and come up with ideas for what they think are going to happen and thanks for the advice. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

It was the first of September and in an old cottage by Hangman Cliffs the clock had just struck 10 and an old, worn looking man with deep scratches covering his pale face was still asleep on his bed oblivious to the time and his worries for the day.

In another room in the cottage a girl was also still asleep, her dark straight hair splayed across the pillow, her pale arm falling from the bed and landing on a big brown trunk marked with the letters 'ANB' already packed for the days events.

The days since the trip to Diagon Ally had flown by for Alice in a blur of sunshine, ice cream and last minute packing or shopping for Hogwarts and it was finally the day she could go to the school.

Remus meanwhile had spent the remainder of the holidays worrying about his little girl going to Hogwarts, it would be a big step as she had yet to spend even a night away from home and he knew he would miss her awfully even though she had promised to owl him every day with her new owl (who she had decided to name Arrow) and to come home at Christmas but he was still worried.

At 1 minute past 10 Remus awoke and slowly stretched out his muscles taking his time as he made up the bed before taking a look at the clock by this point it read 10 minutes past 10.

Upon seeing this he sprinted into Alice's room and shook her awake none too gently "Wake up Alice we have 20 minutes to get to Kings Cross Station. Wake up or you can't go to Hogwarts"

Alice shot up at those words and yelled at her father "Get out, get out, I need to get changed." She pulled on the clothes she had laid out the night before while mumbling to herself "I'm going to Hogwarts, I'm actually going to Hogwarts, finally!"

While Alice got dressed Remus was running around making sure everything his daughter needed was packed and trying to make up some breakfast for when she was ready to come down. Meanwhile the clock continued to tic and by the time Alice was ready to eat breakfast it was half past 10 and the Hogwarts Express left at 11.

"Ok we can't drive or you'll miss the train and we can't floo because there are no fireplaces at Kings Cross so I'm going to have to apparate you" Alice stifled a groan at that, she had only apparated a few times but every time she got sick afterwards, apparating felt like your stomach was being flipped around like a pancake, or maybe like being squashed through a tube too small to fit down, either way she didn't like it.

"Grab your trunk then Ally, you're going to Hogwarts" Remus smiled into his cup of tea as Alice's disgruntled expression changed into one of pure joy and she ran to get her trunk.

"Make sure you haven't forgotten anything," He shouted up the stairs to her while shaking his head.

That girls mood could change in a split second, '_just like her father'_ he thought before pushing the unpleasant thought away, she was nothing like her father, nurture over nature right? He had raised Alice; she was more like him than that worthless traitor.

Alice sat upstairs double checking her large brown trunk and that the lock to Arrow's cage was done properly before looking at herself in the mirror, she was dressed in her favorite clothes, a pair of black, high waist skinny jeans, a bright blue shirt with the word '_Geek_' written across the chest and a light pink jumper with the words 'I really am a unicorn' written in swirling letters. Her long dark hair was done into a neat fishtail braid coming down her left shoulder to just past the bottom of her ribcage.

She smiled at her reflection, seeing she looked presentable enough to meet a whole group of new people.

Alice and Remus met in the kitchen of their small home at 10 minutes to 11 and got ready to apparate, Remus shrunk Alice's trunk and placed it into his pocket before reaching his hand out to her, she looked at it and turned a light shade of green imagining apparating, taking a deep breath she reached the hand that was not holding Arrow's cage out and gripped her fathers hand so tight he was worried she might break some bones, for a small girl she had a rather tight grip.

Alice shut her eyes tightly as she felt Remus make a sharp turn before feeling the unpleasant sensation of apparating, Alice immediately felt the nausea she accustomed with apparating but refused to give in and throw up her breakfast in front of all of her future classmates.

She turned an even brighter green before slowly returning to her usual pallor; opening her eyes she could see hundreds of people bustling around, children being hugged, mothers crying and just general chatting or catching up with an old friend.

Remus was quietly removing Alice's trunk from his pocket and returning it to its normal size, reminiscing his first time on platform 9 and 1/3, that was the day he had met James, Lily, Peter, Karlene and the traitor, it was a day full of wonder and magic and he couldn't wait for his little girl to get to experience that feeling.

It was 5 minutes to 11 when Remus realized that he ought to say goodbye and let her go and get onto the train so she could find a compartment.

"Ally, are you ready to go to Hogwarts?" Remus questioned with a twinkle in his eye.

"Of course, I've only been waiting what, 11 years?" She questioned sarcastically but with a blindingly bright smile.

"Ok then but remember, I'm expecting at least one letter a week if not more"

Alice smiled "How could I ever forget that? You've reminded me every day since Diagon Ally!" She said with a laugh.

"And don't forget, whatever house you're in they're lucky to have you"

"I know, I know but I'm still going to be a Gryffindor like you and my mum!" She said cheekily, before reaching out her arms to hug him close.

"I'll miss you daddy," She said with a sigh "But I will see you at Christmas, so don't forget to pick me up from the station!"

"Go and try to find a compartment Ally, don't forget to write and of course I'll miss you too," He said before giving her one last hug and slipping a small pouch into her hand and waving her of.

He stood there watching as she lugged her trunk and owl cage towards the door of the train before two redheaded boys with identical grins walked up to her and lifted her trunk into the train and put it onto a rack, his fatherly instinct was telling him that in a few years her should keep his daughter as far away from those boys as possible.

Alice smiled as the Weasley boys lifted her trunk onto the top rank for her before thanking the both of them.

They grabbed an arm each and pulled her towards a compartment containing a tall redheaded boy with blue eyes and a smaller boy with messy hair as black as her own with bright green eyes.

"Harry, Ron we've brought you a friend"

"Yeah no need to thank us"

"An don't hesitate to come and find us is our brother is being a git." Fred said with a smirk.

"Got it, bye Fred, George" She smiled at them as they walked out of the compartment and went searching for their friend who apparently had a pet tarantula.

Alice walked over to the window just as the clock chimed 11 and the doors started to shut, she looked over to where Remus was standing waving to her and smiled before gently waving back, she stayed like that until the train had pulled away from the station.

She turned to look at the two boys, the first looked a lot like Fred and George with his red hair, blue eyes and freckles she deduced that he must be Ron fairly quickly before moving on to the second boy, for some reason she felt like she had already met this boy, the one with jet black hair and taped up glasses who she assumed must be the Harry Fred and George were talking about. She frowned to herself and wondered why Harry was wearing clothes 3 sizes too big and seemed far too small for his age, honestly she was the same height as him and she was tiny herself and a girl so Harry was just too small.

She gave both boys nervous smiles and sat down on the opposite bench seat and waited until one of them said something, she didn't have to wait for too long because soon Ron spoke up.

"So who are you?" He asked rather rudely in Alice's opinion.

"Oh I'm Alice Nicole but dad calls me Alice or Ally. You must be Ron and Harry then" She glanced over at Harry as she said his name still feeling as though she should recognize him, his eyes in particular. "Have we met before? Because you look kind of familiar or at least your eyes and hair do." She asked Harry suddenly.

"Umm no I don't think so" He replied nervously before looking to Ron as if for him to take over the conversation.

"Ok Alice, what house do you want to be in?" Ron asked as if any possible friendship would be determined by the answer to this question, which it probably would be.

"Gryffindor definitely, I'm not smart enough to get into Ravenclaw or nice enough to get into Hufflepuff so Gryffindor it is and my mum and godfather were in it when they were at school so yeah."

"That's cool at least you don't want to be in Slytherin that would be awful, what house was your dad in?"

"Oh we don't talk about him at home so I'm not really sure"

"But you said earlier that your dad called you Ally" Ron replied with a confused look that seemed as if it was used a lot.

"Oh that's my godfather, I've lived with him since I was 2 after my mum died and I have no siblings so it's just me and him."

"Oh" Ron answered and looked rather surprised as though the idea of not having parents was simply unthinkable to him, a boy from such a large family.

Luckily to spare the both of them any more embarrassment Harry spoke up "So where are you from?" he asked the both of them waiting silently for a response.

"Oh I live in Lonely Cottage by Hangman Cliffs in Dover" Alice answered slowly only realizing then how uninviting her house sounded just by the name.

"The Burrow in Ottery St Catchpole" Ron stated simply before adding "What about you?"

"Oh I live in Surrey, with my Aunt and Uncle and cousin" Harry answered.

"Why do you live with your Aunt and Uncle" Alice asked as if this were a perfectly normal situation.

It was not Harry who replied to this question though it was Ron. "Haven't you noticed? He's Harry Potter!"

Alice's mouth opened in shock staring at the boy as if seeing him for the first time. "Dad talks about you all the time." She finally managed to choke out. Before noticing that Harry looked uncomfortable and she shut her mouth and looked down to her hands, which were folded, in her lap.

While her gaze was aimed down she noticed the pouch he father had slipped into her hand as he hugged her at the station. She put the small red bag onto the palm of her hand and opened it inside was a single golden galleon she smiled brightly knowing that as a werewolf he dad found it difficult to find a job and so had to save every penny for something worthwhile but he had given her and entire galleon which in muggle money she knew was nearly £30.

Taking the money out from the pouch she stared at it in wonder before looking up and seeing Ron staring at her with a bit of jealousy, he clearly didn't have a lot of money either.

"Sorry" she stated before placing the precious coin back into her pocket and looking back towards Ron who seemed angry with her.

"We don't want any rich snobs in here thanks, especially any who like to just pull a galleon out of their pocket and show it of" He said with a snarl, glaring at her.

Alice was immediately angered by this comment, although she wasn't really familiar with how children acted, not having grown up around any she was sure that this was him telling her to get out.

She stood up said farewell to Harry and left the carriage with dignity, while outwardly she appeared perfectly calm inside she was falling to pieces, she had not grown up around other children and one of the first she met already hated her well she supposed that one enemy wouldn't be so bad I mean not the end of the world right? She thought to herself before walking smack bang into another girl.


	4. Friends and Enemies Part 2

Being A Black

Chapter 4: Friends and Enemies part 2

**AN: Yay Alice has made her enemy in the form of Ron Weasley so now it's time for her to make a friend. Also sorry I would have updated but I want to get a few chapters ahead so sorry but yeah bye. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

Last Chapter

_Well, she supposed that one enemy wouldn't be so bad I mean not the end of the world right? She thought to herself before walking smack bang into another girl. _

This other girl looked up at her after she had fallen to the ground when Alice walked into her. She had thick light brown hair and light skin with large inquisitive brown eyes and she seemed to be about 4 inched taller than Alice but it was hard to tell as she was on the ground.

Alice stuck out her hand to help the other girl up and the other girl gratefully accepted the offered hand and stood up before introducing herself as Hermione Granger.

"Alice Nicole Black" Alice offered her name up to the girl, "Why were you wondering around the corridor of the train?"

"Oh yes I was looking for a toad, a boy named Neville Longbottom managed to loose one have you seen one by any chance?" She asked hope evident in her voice.

"No sorry, but I can help you look for it." Alice asked just as hopefully, hoping beyond hope that someone would accept her. Hermione smiled gratefully and nodded her curls bouncing when she moved her head.

A few minutes later the two girls were talking as if they had been friends for years, Alice now knew that the girl was called Hermione Jean Granger, was a muggle born, an only child, very intelligent and that her favorite book was Hogwarts: A History.

Alice had also shared some things about her self and was sure that they would be good friends after all, Alice was academic enough to be able to hold a conversation and study with her but just laid back enough that maybe she could get Hermione to unwind a bit more.

Alice smiled to herself while Hermione continued talking about all of the schoolbooks she had already read, stopping only to ask people if they had seen Trevor the toad, it felt good to have found a friend, this year would be brilliant.

"Perhaps you should get changed into your uniform." Hermione said loudly startling Alice and pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh yeah I guess" Alice replied and went to the nearest bathroom to change into her boring grey school uniform before going back to meet Hermione who was badgering some other first years about the missing toad.

As they continued walking they reached the compartment that Harry and Ron were in.

"Come on lets go and get this over and done with." Hermione exclaimed clearly already bored with the toad hunting.

"No chance am I going in there, Ron, the redhead is such a git, he went of on me for having money and for showing of about it just because I pulled a galleon out of my pocket and looked at it, and it's not even as if I am well of, me and dad are completely broke we have got no money whatsoever and that was the first galleon `I have ever gotten for myself before, ever." Alice ranted, all in one breath.

"OK so how much is a galleon again?" Hermione asked, seeming startled about Alice's rant.

"And don't swear it's not ladylike" She added as an afterthought.

"£28" Alice replied.

"Oh" Hermione said simply clearly expecting something that had already caused an argument to be worth a bit more than that and most likely feeling sorry for Alice, not having much money.

"How about I just go in fro this one and you go into the next one, sound good?" Hermione asked seeking a compromise incase the one compartment they didn't check contained Trevor.

"OK, meet you out here in 5 minuets" Alice said idly while beginning to move to have a look in the next compartment.

As Alice pulled open the sliding door she was greeted with a bit of a surprise, inside were two older students that looked as if they were glued together, holding tightly onto each other kissing deeply. They had clearly not heard her coming in as they didn't break of the kiss, instead of asking them about Trevor Alice decided just to back away and leave.

As soon as she had left the compartment she began to giggle and couldn't seem to stop. Madly giggling in the corridor of the train was how Hermione found her 10 minutes later.

"Umm Alice what happened?"

"Two 7th years were snogging in their compartment and I walked in on them and they didn't seem to notice.

Hermione pulled a face and soon they were both in fits of giggles, though it wasn't long before Alice asked Hermione about what had happened with in the other compartment.

"Well the one with dark hair was fairly polite but did you see what clothes he was wearing?" She asked as if she was worried about the small boy.

"Relax 'Mione, really they're most likely just hand-me-downs from his cousin or something, that's why they don't fit right yeah" Alice said calmly as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, which to her it was.

Hermione nodded in agreement and looked less worried before taking on a look of distaste, "But the redhead was just as rude as you said he would be, he was doing magic but the words he said weren't even a real incantation and then he got really rude and snarky with me for telling him that we were almost at Hogwarts and that he should get his robes on, I mean I was only trying to help."

"Relax 'Mione he's just an idiot honestly I don't know what's wrong with him" Alice smiled reassuringly at her and then spoke up again,

"So shall we continue our toad hunting?"

Hermione smiled a little before nodding determinedly and starting to walk up to the next compartment.

Hermione was very excited about having met a new friend and one who seemed not to mind her ranting about school and she didn't roll her eyes or make snide comments about school being for nerds either, it would be nice to have her around for some intellectual conversation. And, Hermione thought to herself, maybe it would be fun to have her around to talk to about non-school related things, it had been the most she could ever remember laughing in one conversation.

The two girls spent the net hour talking about anything and everything to do with Hogwarts, the grounds, the classes, the teachers, the founders and the houses. By the time the train finally slowed to a stop the girls were acting like they had been best friends for years rather than hours.

"First Years, First years over here please all of you over here" A booming voice called out into the sea of children milling about the station. Alice grabbed tight onto Hermione's hand and pulled her towards the loud voice.

The voice led them to the edge of a beautiful dark lake filled with goodness knows what, the lake was lined with about 15 small boats and one slightly larger boat.

The owner of the voice it turned out was a giant looking man with wild black hair that looked as though it had never seen a brush and twinkling black eyes that were filled with excitement about seeing the new students.

Alice and Hermione fought through the crowds to reach the massive man and before they knew it they were in a sea of other first years some of whom seemed to stand tall and excited others seemed to cower in fear of the upcoming adventure.

Alice was in the middle of those two, she felt absolutely terrified, and there would be so many things to worry about here, grades, friends, houses classes, teachers and what id she got kicked out for some reason? It was all so much more pressure than her simple childhood where she was homeschooled.

On the other hand she was excited, about what the classes would be like, about how it would be to live away from home and about what an adventure it would be to tell her dad about.

So Alice seemed to cower with an expression of excitement on her face, or maybe standing straight and tall with a terrified look.

When all of the first year students had arrived at the edge of the lake the giant man began to speak, "My name's Rubeus Hagrid and I'm the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts. To get to the school we go by boat so four to a boat and no rocking the boat or shoving or pushing other students. Oh and the big one's for me." He grunted to make the point and everyone seemed to start moving at once.

Alice grabbed a hold on Hermione's wrist and pulled her towards an empty boat, carefully they both stepped into the small boat before sitting and waiting for another pair to arrive and join them in their boat.

Their waiting didn't take long as two girls came up to the boat and one shyly asked if they could share. The girl who had spoken had long dark hair that curled neatly into ringlets as well as a small, tanned face with soft looking features and light brown eyes. The second girl who was standing behind the other girl nervously had pale skin, small eyes that were a watery blue in colour and honey blonde hair that reached down to the small of her back.

The first girl introduced herself as Gemini Wood and the second as Susan Bones. Hermione quickly struck up a conversation about schoolwork with Susan so that Alice was left to speak with Gemini.

"Oh, your names Gemini, like the birth sign thing?"

"Yeah" Gemini said, "It's my birth sign, my birthday is May 25th" She responded with a heavy Scottish accent.

Alice smiled massively, "That's my birthday as well, are you 11?"

"Yeah, that is so cool, we could be twins, and we look similar enough." Gemini said with a grin. They did look fairly similar, both girls had dark hair and coal coloured eyes, as well as high cheekbones.

"So do you have any siblings?" Alice asked curiously, she had always wanted siblings, which was part of the reason she was so desperate that Remus find a girl and get married.

"Oh, two older brothers, Oliver and Murray, three younger brothers, Neil, Keith and Aiden, oh and my mums pregnant again, most likely with another boy, she doesn't seem to have much luck having girls, Gemini answered with a small smile, thinking about her family.

"Wow, I'm an only child, it's just me and my dad at home." Alice responded amazed at how different their lifestyles were. Gemini seemed to be equally amazed at how quiet it must be at Alice's house, as all she knew about home life was organized chaos.

"Oh and by the way, I think I'm going to call you Gem, you know as a nickname." Alice stated confidently.

"Sure, but I get to call you Nikki, like short for Nicole." Gem smiled at Alice.

"Deal" Alice said, shaking hands with the other girl.

"Ok heads down, heads down" Hagrid yelled loudly, interrupting Hermione and Susan's conversation about whether transfiguration or herbology is a more important subject. Soon the first years found themselves travelling one-by-one through a thin tunnel.

"And if you look to the left you can see your first glance of Hogwarts" immediately everyone turned to their lefts so quickly that the boat started rocking.

"Oh no, right, look to your right" Hagrid yelled correcting himself, Alice was starting to think that he wasn't yelling and that he was just naturally a very loud person.

Soon everyone was turning to face the other way, tipping the boat dangerously and almost capsizing it but nobody seemed to notice or if they did they didn't care, they were too busy staring at the wondrous looking castle ahead of them, the castle was massive and made from large stone blocks, the windows were spectacular coloured glass paintings.

Alice sighed, it was just a beautiful as she'd imagined it to be but her imagination hadn't done the size justice, it was the largest place she had ever seen and she started to wonder how she was going to get to her classes without getting too lost.

All to soon their relaxing boat ride was over and the small first years were climbing out of their boats, some delicately climbing, others flailing about like Bambi on ice. After they were all out of their boats Hagrid led them all through a massive wooden door, only pausing when they reached an older women with greying hair, knotted firmly on the back of her head. Her face, partly covered by glasses that seemed to rest on her nose in a threatening manner and her expression was clearly set into frown, as if daring any one of us to do anything she would consider improper. Alice noted immediately that this was not a woman you wanted to make angry with you.

"I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house. In a moment you will go through those doors and be sorted into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Any rule breaking will result in the removal of points from your house and any triumphs will earn you house points, at the end of the year the points are counted and the house with the highest number of points will win the house cup for that year. Wait here for me to collect you and no trouble. And try to neaten yourselves up." She spoke firmly and briskly before striding of to do whatever needed done.

Alice waited nervously for the professor to return, while observing a altercation between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy but she was determined not to get involved.

Far to soon in Alice's opinion professor McGonagall was back and she had them form a line before she opened the large wooden doors.


	5. The Sorting

Being A Black

Chapter 5: The Sorting

**AN: R&R please! Also sorry a bit of a shorter chapter but I wanted to get it posted tonight to make up for how long since I posted before today. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

As Alice walked through the great hall filled with the older students she tried to keep her eyes on the three-legged stool but every now and then they would flit away to look at something, the floating candles and sky that was not the sky that she could hear Hermione ranting on about, the teachers, the hat or the older students. While her gaze was fixed on the furthest table on the left she saw a burly looking older boy smiling reassuringly at Gem who was just in front of her and her giving him a slight wave, he must be one of her brothers she thought to herself.

When the line finally reached the front of the hall an old man with a snow-white beard that reached down to his stomach, Alice assumed that this was the Dumbledore she had been told so much about. He simply smiled at the students and waited for the rest of the year to file through. As soon as all of the first years were ready the old brown hat on the stool sort of ripped open at the middle and started to speak, well sing really.

'_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might be in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true _

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin _

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have non)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!'_

Everyone in the great hall applauded loudly, even more so when the hat seemed to bend towards each table, Alice supposed it was bowing at them sort of. But what she was curious about was whether there were any more types of magical hats? Could a pair of socks do that? Would the hat talk about what he saw in her head aloud? Was the hat a boy or a girl? What would happen if they put the hat on a person with a mental illness, like where their thoughts were so confused even they couldn't understand them? So many questions and so few answers, soon professor McGonagall was reading the first name of the list, Hannah Abbot was the first person called out and she was sorted into Hufflepuff.

The next name to be read of the list was "Alice Nicole Black" Alice began to take small steps until she was at the base of the stairs up to the platform. She tried to appear calm and collected, even arrogant so that people wouldn't know how afraid she was, inside though, she was a nervous wreck. Gingerly she took a seat on the stool and placed the grubby hat on top of her dark hair wondering whether there was any chance she could get nits from the hat.

"No I do not contain nits or head lice or anything of the sort thank you very much." An offended sounding voice sounded in her ear making her jump out of her skin. So this was the sorting hat, Alice wondered whether the hat could answer her questions from earlier so she tried to think them very slowly so the hat could understand.

"You know I'm not stupid, you don't need to try to slow down your thoughts for me." The hat once again sounded very offended and Alice felt she was of to a very bad start.

"Well, there is one other type of magic hat that I know of and even that is more of a crown anyway, the lost diadem of Ravenclaw, so I really am one of a kind the hat bragged inside her head.

The hat seemed to hear that she thought it was bragging and yelled out, this time to everyone, not just to her. "I am not bragging and for Merlin's sake I am not stupid." Half of the hall started laughing as Alice went red and apologized out loud while the other half looked on in confusion.

The hat must have accepted her apology because he went on with answering her questions in a bored voice,

"No a pair of socks couldn't sort you, or sing, and you're calling me stupid" the hat muttered the last bit under his breath but again out loud.

"I generally do not talk about what I see inside a students head aloud but in extreme circumstances I may inform the headmaster, for example if a child is being, say beaten at home and needs medical attention. Next question, technically I'm not a boy or a girl because I am the only one of my species and I am not technically alive."

"Sounds very technical " Alice muttered aloud. The hat went on, either not hearing or pretending not to.

"But I would personally say that I am a boy." At this point in time a few older students began to mutter something that sounded like hatstall but Alice ignored them and listened to the hat finish answering her questions.

"Well I have never tried to listen to anyone with severe mental difficulties thoughts, so I have no idea at all what would happen."

Alice thought about it for a second, "I don't know, maybe you should try it sometime, ask professor Dumbledore if you can."

"I should probably get to sorting you now, you have been sitting here for near five minutes."

"Just one more question, what is a hatstall" Alice asked curiously.

"Well a hatstall is when a child is sitting up here for more than three minutes." The hat said smugly, "It is because it is so rare for a child to take that long because I am so efficient at what I do."

"But you're such a chatter box?" Alice said in disbelief, again most of the hall laughed at her.

"Back to your sorting" the hat said sounding irritated. "Well with all of those questions, you're curios enough to be a Ravenclaw but you were brave enough to ask them so Gryffindor. Hmm, strange, I would say that you inherited your Gryffindor qualities from your parents and even your godfather, but you learned your Ravenclaw qualities, they aren't built in, you had to use effort to act like a Ravenclaw but you don't to act like a Gryffindor, those are hardwired into your brain."

"So where are you going with this?" Alice asked cautiously.

"GRYFFINDOR" The hat yelled out to the hall, the table which Alice saw the boy she assumed was Gemini's brother was clapping, so it must be the Gryffindor table.

As she walked over to the table the other sorting's began again, usually only lasting a minute or less. As it was, Susan, from the boat was in Hufflepuff, Gemini and Hermione were both sorted into Gryffindor along with Harry Potter and the rude boy from the train, Ron.

After the sorting's, Dumbledore announced a few of the school rules, No going to the forbidden forest, no doing magic in the corridors and no going on the 3rd floor corridor. Seemed simple enough, after those few announcements Dumbledore said a few strange sounding words that Alice couldn't understand, something about a squeak and bubbles.

Then the food arrived and people started talking, Alice could hear Gemini being congratulated on getting into Gryffindor by two boys who looked very similar, with sandy brown hair and light brown, almost amber eyes.

"So Alice what took you so long?"

"Yeah, you were the longest hatstall-"

"In the past 100 or so years according-"

"To nearly headless Nick"

The Weasley twins asked, staring at her curiously.

"And what did you say to get the hat to-"

"Talk back to you aloud?"

Alice smiled at their matching grins,

"I was apparently curious enough for Ravenclaw and I couldn't stop myself from asking questions, oh and I may have irritated it a bit at the beginning by asking it whether it had head lice." She answered with a true marauders smirk.

"Brilliant" They answered together.

She continued to enjoy the delicious feast of roast chicken, potatoes, vegetables and her favourite drink pumpkin juice, they even brought out some of the most delicious desserts she had ever tasted, there was treacle tart and cheesecake and ice cream.

The next thing Alice knew, she was being led up and around passageways, moving stairs and too many corridors to count to get to the Gryffindor common room. When they finally did get up to the common room Alice was amazed by the brilliant reds, and amazing gold's.

Even with all of the things she had to think about, the brilliant castle, the portraits, the creepy talking, sorting hat and her new classmates and friends she still collapsed on the first bed she could see, pulled of her robes and fell into a deep slumber.


End file.
